69 Johnny’s gathered in Mori Mitsuko’s funeral

On December 7th in Aoyama was held the funeral of actress Mori Mitsuko (92) who passed away on November 10th due to heart failure and pneumonia. More than 1,000 celebrities attended the ceremony plus 1,300 general people, making a total of 2,300 people who attended. In addition, there were 300 reporters. Actor and singer Kondo Masahiko revealed in his condolence message “She was Japan’s mother”. Mori-san’s presence was loved by everyone, and they talked about her trajectory and personality and a 17 minutes memorial video was shown as introduction.

In her life she held a deep friendship with members of the agency. In a never seen scene and led by Kondo Masahiko, a total of 69 Johnny’s attended the ceremony including; Shounentai, Uchiumi Koji (Hikaru GENJI), SMAP, TOKIO, KinKi Kids, V6, Arashi, Imai Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, Kis-My-Ft2 (except Tamamori Yuta), A.B.C-Z, Sano Mizuki, Yara Tomoyuki and Nakayama Yuma. And Kondo said goodbye “She was all of us, Johnny’s Mother”.

Johnny’s attend the funeral of their mother Mori Mitsuko

On November 10th, actress Mori Mitsuko passed away from heart failure and pneumonia at the age of 92. On December 7th, the formal funeral was held in Shimeyaka, Aoyama (Tokyo). Kondo Masahiko, Kuroyanagi Tetsuko, Sadaharu Oh (Fukuoka Softbank Hawks) gathered to read a message of condolence.

Because they have current concerts in Yahoo! Dome, all 5 members of Arashi were able to attend in the morning. Then little by little, since Shounentai member, Higashiyama Noriyuki to SMAP, TOKIO, KinKi Kids, V6, Tackey & Tsubasa, KAT-TUN, Kanjani8, NEWS and Hey! Say! JUMP, they all rushed into the last farewell. Even Higashiyama’s wife, Kimura Yoshino attended the ceremony. On behalf of all Johnny’s Idols, Kondo Masahiko entered the hall taking the arm of Kuroyanagi to show his support.

Kuroyanagi share the stage with Mori-san in “Horōki”. Kondo stated, “Mori-san, thank you very much. She was the mother of Japan. Well no, she still is. Also, she was all of us, Johnny’s mother”, sending his last farewell.

Condolence Message

Since the beginning of my career, I have happy memories of her. Always received a Christmas and birthday present from her, always sending kind messages in letters or faxes. My desk drawer is filled with letters and FAX from Mori-san. I’ve been encouraged many times. I’d like to review how she helped me to overcome hard times. The other day I went to intrude in Mori-san’s home. I wanted to hug her shoulders and visit her once more. I felt the same warmth and kindness from when I was first allowed to participate in “Horōki”. That’s when I realized she was really gone. Over there, there’s a lot of people waiting for Mori-san. For a while she was really busy. I’m glad she was never lonely. Mori-san, after the dust settles, please rest properly. Thank you.

—Kondo Masahiko

In addition Akiyama Toshiyuki (Tokyo Vice Governor) and Yamamoto Manabu also read a message of condolence. Naraoka Tomoko who couldn’t attend due to stage schedule also sent a message of condolences.

Mori-san had exchanges with idols from Johnny’s Jimusho since the 80s and was called as “Johnny’s mother”. Johnny’s made a space on their busy schedules to attend together in this special day.

Have you ever watched Nakai's KinSma where Matchy was guesting? I've only heard snippets of rumours here and there, but that episode basically revealed everything about Matchy's career. (oh and this is going to get long)

So when he was recording Oroka Mono, his mother got into a car accident and was hospitalized in a critical condition. As she had always been Matchy's biggest fan, and with his packed schedule at the time, his father calmed him over the phone and told him he doesn't have to come to the hospital. The Oroka Mono that was recorded was his first take, right after he received the news of her accident. She died a few days after, although at the time Matchy had an on location shoot canceled and could rush to the hospital.

A year after that, Matchy's label CBS/Sony received a phone threat that said Matchy should forfeit from the Record Taishou at the start of the year (January 1988), or his mother's ashes will be taken. Sony thought it was a prank call, but it actually happened a few days later along with a letter stating Matchy should not receive his award.

The Kanagawa police force ran a thorough investigation but couldn't manage to find neither the culprit nor the ashes. The Record Taishou-made committee that had cooperated with the police's investigation had hoped they could procure the remains without having to tell Matchy until after the award show ended. But with the day looming, the management decided Matchy should know and make the decision himself. It was the first record taishou nomination for JE and CBS/Sony (and Matchy is practically a shoe-in for the win), but they'll support him even if he forfeited. Matchy talked to his father about it, and he said her son winning the award would've meant the world for Matchy mother, and she wouldn't have liked him admitting defeat.

So he came into the award ceremony. And won the award. And cried while singing Oroka Mono. Kurayanagi Tetsuko consoled him at the time.

That's so sad :( And I didn't know that Tetsuko and Matchy are that close ever since.Also, I'm starting to wonder if that incident is one of the reason why Johnny's doesn't participate much on awards...

OMG! That is just... No words right now. Tetsuko-San has always been very supportive of Matchy like Mori--San. I agree with the others in here that this probably played a big reason as to why Johnny's no longer participate in award shows.

Do you have an idea of what key words should I use to find this KinSma ? (A year, month, thema, or someting ?) I feel like I've already been told this story but I'm sure I never watched this program. I know there was a Yan Yan JUMP about Matchy when the program was still interesting but I think they didn't mention this part of his life, maybe to not have an akward athmosphere... Even if Matchy sounds an obsolete singer today I've always respected him, I always understood why girls liked him years ago. He is a realy great artist, I went to a live he was part of someday and I felt his passion for Johnny's ♥